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Buyboy festival (Tiger Grass)

The Buyboy Festival which was started in 2008 by the Sadiri Iti Pagilian Foundation, Inc. is an event to promote San Clemente’s quality brooms (walis tambo) and other local products. Tiger grass or locally called “buyboy” which grows well in the cool climate of Sitio Dueg, Barangay Maasin was introduced by the Igorots who migrated in the sitio where the first sprouts originated from Benguet. The production only started some time in 2005 with a small parcel of uncultivated land by these migrants to try on producing buyboy in the area. They’ve seen the possibility of mass production of buyboy that can supplement the materials used for the famous Baguio City brooms.

Now, buyboy is commonly seen growing at various spots in Sitio Dueg and harvesting starts in late February. The upper portion of its flower, the large and drooping panicle, is used for broom (walis tambo) making. A group of farmers/weavers was trained by the Municipal Government in cooperation with the DTI to produce quality brooms out of this indigenous material.

Seeing the opportunity in buyboy as a potential cash crop not only because it thrives well in barren land and easy to propagate, it also serves as an erosion control mechanism and ecologically friendly replacing the ginger plantation in the sitio, the Local Government Unit made it as its “One Town, One Product” (OTOP) Project in year 2006. With the support of the different agencies spearheaded by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), the local broom industry has been created.

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Website: https://sanclementetarlac.gov.ph/